Patchwork and Patched Up
by AYangThang
Summary: Once, she threw away everything she ever wanted for the promises she made. Now, she must throw away her promises to find happiness. Weiss has been down this road before. She knows, it's not as easy as it seems. (Pollination within)
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings:** Girl penis Blake. Pollination. Mild lime and light lemons. Possibly shoddy editing. Further explanations in the author's note below.

 **Patchwork and Patched Up**

At first, it was just a onetime fling. A few too many beers, a dare, and an ego trip. Then, it became a dirty little truth. She hadn't been able to acknowledge it, at least at first. Over time, this it became something more. Something larger than just herself, and her own selfish whims. It was above and beyond normalcy, and the inexplicability of it all made it harder to deal with.

They never gave it a name…what they felt.

Never committed, because the truth as teenage girls was too much to handle. So, this would be the last time. Weiss promised herself that. It was the night of their graduation, and it was time to say goodbye to her younger self…to her free-spirited nature…say goodbye to everything that she ever wanted, so that she could do what she needed.

So that she could keep her promises.

"Don't stop." She breathed desperately. "Don't stop." Hips gyrating as she lost herself in her passion, mind going numb as she tried to prolong the feeling, least she lose it forever. It was all too fleeting. The feelings and emotions she knew she would have to let go of. As soon as her sanity touched ground, it would all be over. That terrified her.

She didn't want to let go of this. Of them.

Of those hands caressing her body, of the people she'd learned to love. Yang's lips were on her own, claiming a heated kiss. Blake was lower still, tonguing her most sensitive flesh with rabid abandon.

Weiss didn't want to go back to Atlas.

Beacon was her home. These people, they were her family. She wasn't sure when exactly she'd come to that conclusion. It had to have been sometime betwixt the cold nights on missions, and the warmth that only Yang and Blake could provide. Someplace between the divide of frustration and comradery. Between racial diversity, and bloodline. They were the unlikeliest of couples, the strangest group of lovers that Weiss had ever even fathomed.

Why else would a Faunus be coaxing her from the most blissful, emotional orgasm, of her life? Why else would she be brought to the verge of tears knowing, deep down, this was the last time? With clarity came a sob, strong arms hoisted her up into the tightest hug she had ever known. Yang to her front, Blake to her back, cocooning her. Soft murmurs, sweet nothings, and the sound of purring.

"I don't want to go."

"We know." Yang cajoled. "We don't want you to either. That's why you should stay. Come live in Patch, with us."

"I can't do that, Yang." Weiss sighed, even though she held tighter. Afraid, if she didn't, this would all be over. "I want to, but I can't."

"We know." Blake's assurance was the reasonable answer. Kisses pressed across a bare shoulder. Promises Blake wished to etch there, just under the surface. She couldn't, even as her lips quivered, silencing all of the things she couldn't say.

* * *

 **Several Years Later…**

Numb.

She felt numb.

Empty, like a shell of her former image. She'd felt that way for a while. She'd gone to Atlas, gotten married, and lived the life she had always been expected to. Now, those expectations had also turned to ash. She wasn't just burying her husband. She was burying her promises to her father, and her claim to her company.

She couldn't do this again. She couldn't bed another man, feeling disgusting all the while. She couldn't remarry, and hate herself. She couldn't forgive every single time she felt ready to toss herself off the nearest balcony, and pray that her aura didn't activate. She was tired of faking smiles, and holding back sighs.

Frowning at her own broken, sordid lie, she threw away the birth control that she'd been taking because she wouldn't… _couldn't_ bring herself to carry her husband's child. Those pills were buried along with him too. Even though he was a _good_ man. A kind one. If not a bit flirtatious and slightly scatterbrained at times, he had never done her wrong. Not once. In spite of this, she could never bring herself to love him as a wife should.

As a dear friend yes, but as a lover, no.

So, as she sat there watching his casket lowering in mind numbing agony, her eyes burned too. And though many thought she was morning her lover, she was mourning her friend instead. Their shared dreams, their shared promises. Of all the things they said they would do, back when they were students. What added to the dreary afternoon was that he man next to her, his best friend, cried too.

The both of them defeated. In a show of solidarity, he could do little more than put his hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know what I should do." She murmured.

"Go home, Weiss." Sun Wukong replied. "Go home. Live the life you always wanted to live…"

"I can't do that, Sun."

"You owe it to him." Sun said, gripping his black slacks. "Neptune was a smug bastard, Weiss, but he was your smug bastard…and he cared. He wanted you to be happy." He flicked his thumb behind him. Yang, Ruby, and Blake sat one row back. "They made you happy. They made your life worth something more than all of this horseshit…you owe it to him, and them… and y _ou_. So just…go home."

"That's not my life anymore."

"It can be." Sun said. "All you got to do is take it."

The service was long since over, and Weiss had been sitting there long enough. Looking at that open grave with dirt being tossed in. She stood up and squared her shoulders. Sun, didn't move. It was better that way. Sun had always been there with Neptune, and he would sit there until all of the dirt was placed. That was just his way. Their way. That indisputable bond, that even in death, could not, would not be broken.

She lifted her blue eyed gaze. There, the family she had left behind stood. She'd seen them often times in passing, called them often. The bond they shared hadn't been broken either. Weiss stood still as she looked over at the two Faunus children and the parents who raised them. Blake in the middle, her son holding her hand, and Yang's. On the other side, her daughter bridge the gap between Blake and Ruby.

This was the family Weiss wanted to have, the one she denied herself out of a false sense of duty.

The same one that encased her in a hug that transcended years of unspoken phrases. And the head of that happy, if not obscure family, spoke ever so softly. Three simple little words that Yang and Ruby had always said so easily…but that Blake had not…could not…because at that time so long ago, she had been unable. "I love you." Blake said with such a gentle firmness it was hard to believe it was happening. "We love you, Weiss. You can stop now…you can come home."

* * *

 **AYangThang:** I have no excuse for this head-crack. We can all clearly see that idiocy happened here.

Shorter chapters, no guaranteed update routine. Just something I fidget with during bouts of writers block. Purely a medium to dump all of my less than stellar ideas. Don't expect amazing quality. This is sort of just gets puked upon the page. Anyway, take it as you will, and as it stands chapter by chapter.

Pairings are as follows: Blake/Ruby/Weiss, and Blake/Yang/Weiss. There's no sexually romantic Enabler. Though, you can expect the lines between sisters and something more to blurred a little bit.


	2. Chapter 2

They lived in a small three bedroom home. The simple life suited them, the dwelling was sparse, but never unwelcoming. Taiyang had been a master craftsman. The a trade acquired on the small island when Grimm hunting didn't make ends meet. The single father had skillfully built most of the furnishings in his home, and he passed on those skills to Yang, who had, in turn, taken to the craft with the same sort of zeal.

As such, this home, which was just across the Xiao Long property, was decorated in Yang's works of love. No small effort was poured into each piece. From the bunkbeds in the children's room, to the kitchen table, her work was her lifeblood when hunts ran low. Most everything in the household had been made or refurbished by Yang.

"You going to be good here?" Yang asked, having put down the large chest of belongings and a few suitcases into the spare room. "If not, I mean, we could always put you in our room…but…"

Weiss shook her head. "This is fine, Yang, really."

"Doesn't seem fine to me." Yang said, closing the door behind her. "Weiss, you just lost your husband. No one expects you to come out of that unscathed."

" _We_ lost Neptune." Weiss corrected. "He was our friend, and he's gone."

"Look, Weiss, he was more than that to you…least on paper…"

"More than just on paper." Weiss admitted. "I didn't love him. I didn't…but I did lay with him, Yang. He was my husband in every sense of the word, even if not the emotion one might extrapolate from the term. I warmed his bed for a handful of years. I…I knew that life, what to expect out of it. This…" She looked outside, to the world she just stepped into. "I don't know how to do this. I don't know if I can just pick up where we all left off."

"Good, cause I don't want you to…"

Icy eyes bore into lilac.

"This are different from back then." Yang told her. "Ruby's in the mix now too."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Weiss said, recalling her memories with Ruby perfectly. "She was in the mix then, too."

"Not with sex." Yang finished. "You and Blake had a pretty vanilla relationship with her back then. You guys never took it that far."

"Ruby was too nervous to take it that far." Weiss shot back. "Besides, if I had done that…with her…I don't think I could have left. You and Blake knew where the line was. Ruby, she was different. She could never really put up that emotionless wall."

"Not like you did a very good job doing that with her, either." Yang shot back knowingly.

"You're right." Weiss said. There was no use in hiding it. "Then again, it seems as if I wasn't very good with that in general. I still love you, Yang, all of you. That hasn't changed."

"Yeah, well, we're not kids anymore. The rules and dynamics have changed since then. That's why I set this room up in the first place."

"Beg your pardon?"

"There are some nights that Ruby and Blake go at it." Yang broke off with a nervous laugh. "As much as we're a family, and don't get me wrong, I love my baby sis…there's limits. Sometimes, one of us just wants Blake to ourselves for a night or something. I don't really care if they have a quickie next to me in the middle of the night, but Ruby's got some kink in her…and I don't want to see that."

"Should you be telling me this?" Weiss asked. "It all seems rather personal."

"I've eaten you out how many times?"

"That was in the past, Yang. You've said it yourself, things changed."

Yang shrugged. "Yeah, okay. It's not the same as before, Weiss. We can't reverse history, and there's a lot you missed out on. I guess I just don't want to think you have to keep missing out. You're part of this family too, you always have been. Being part of it, means knowing the kind of things going on behind closed doors."

"What about you? I assume you're still fairly...you..."

"You mean a boiling sex pot...honestly though?" Yang let out a soft sound. A mix between a laugh and a fond admonishment. "Not as much as I used to be. I love Blake, don't get me wrong, but I've gotten to the point in my life when dinner and a movie can actually mean just that. Dinner and a movie. Won't ever turn down some naked spooning though, still all about that."

"Of course you are." Weiss chided, taking some small level of comfort in that at least.

"Look...I mean, if you ever want to come back to where you belong, there's a place in that bed with your name on it. If You don't, that's fine too...but, if there's ever a time you just need someone, just ask. One of us, all of us...even none of us. We genuinely do love you Weiss, honestly. So, don't be afraid to do what you feel like you need to do. I guess, really, that's all I'm saying."

* * *

Blake had always identified as female. For the longest time, everyone assumed that anatomically speaking, she was.

After all, what girl would be born otherwise? Blake, however, was an anomaly. Born with male genitalia, and the ability to impregnate other women. It was a shock to Weiss when she found out back in her school days, but it was also a fact of life she quickly moved passed. The situation was out of her control, it wasn't her body. It was Blake's.

Blake wasn't bothered by her anatomy. The cat Faunus was only bothered by the people around her. Only afraid of who might judge her. Only close friends and trusted family knew the truth. How else, after all, could she explain the two children that she had inevitably chosen to sire? Even so, Blake found her life more than suitable, even if a little more obscure than normal.

"Papa, why is Weissy staying here?"

Blake's ears flicked in response, having made due with the inherently male vernacular. It wasn't as if her daughter was wrong. She was technically the little girl's father. Golden eyes flicked down to the inquisitive young girl. She asked far more intuitive questions that one might think appropriate of her age. "Because this is her home."

"But her house is in Atlas."

Blake sighed. "It was, yes. Now it's here."

"When is Neppy coming back?"

She was too young, she didn't understand. Her four year old didn't have a concept of death. The finality of it all eluded her. Blake's fingers trailed through those raven tresses to stroke red tipped ears. Blake found only a small measure of comfort in her daughter's happy purr. She had given up trying to explain. Understanding would come with time, and there were no further words she could say that wouldn't break her little girl's heart.

Thankfully, Ruby's voice broke through the tense question. "I'm home."

"Mom!"

Ruby no sooner made it to the door, that little claws had hooked themselves into her trousers. "Hello Ula, it's nice to see you too." Ruby lifted the girl with her free arm.

"I smell… Oh! I know." Small nose already at work, the Faunus had ascertained dinner. "It's salmon."

"We're cooking it later, not now." Ruby told her as they walked into the kitchen.

"Yang hates Salmon." Blake said, amused. She also made her way into the kitchen, helping to unload the fishing supplies, giving Ruby a quick kiss as she passed by.

"Well, maybe if she'd go out and catch food every now and then, she'd have a say in what dinner was." Ruby offered with a smile as she set her little girl down.

"Speaking of, I haven't seen Yang all day."

"She was down at the pub checking the board the last time I saw her." Ruby reported conversationally. "She keeps looking for a decent hunt to pop up, but I check every day too."

"Well, you can only expect her to stay cooped up in the workshop for so long before she gets cabin fever like the rest of us."

Ruby nodded to this, as her mind traced back to something else she'd heard in passing. "Word on the street is that our uncle is in town." Ruby said. "The pub is his favorite place to go. She probably got sidetracked."

"Well, I can't say that I blame her. She does like to knock back a shot or two with him when she can. He comes by so rarely these days, and normally he knows of some decent work." Blake sighed, golden eyes turning upward. "Weiss hasn't come down yet, either. The house has been eerily quiet."

"Maybe you should go talk to her." Ruby offered, already meandering about the kitchen. "I know you're only trying to give her some space, but I know Weiss. She's not going to go looking for comfort. Especially not the kind she doesn't think she deserves."

"If you feel so strongly about it, why haven't you gone up and tried to bring her down?"

Ruby, poised over a carrot, paused, setting the knife down. "Ula, go out to the training stump and tell your brother to shower before dinner." The young girl, elated to be allowed in the back yard unsupervised, went after her brother with glee. Ruby kept half an eye on the window. As she expected, the two siblings became sidetracked, chasing each other around, instead of doing as they'd been told.

She leaned in, playing with the collar of Blake's shirt. "I was meaning to talk to you about that, but not right now. Tonight maybe, in the bath? I'd like Yang to be there when we talk. For right now, though, you should probably go upstairs. Weiss needs you, even when she doesn't say she does."


	3. Chapter 3

She hadn't been much a drinker until after she had gotten married. Then, suddenly, the wide world of wine began to appeal to her. She wouldn't say that she drank herself stupid often, but if this was intelligence, then the world must have turned upside down. Blake had knocked on her bedroom door, the action harmless in and of itself. Then she noticed the wine bottle empty, and resting on the floor beside the bed.

That in and of itself wouldn't have been too bad. However, Blake could smell much harder liquor, and the smell of olives. "Are you…" She took another careful sniff of the air. "Are you drunk?"

"I've merely decided to pickle my insides."

"Oh, Weiss."

"The stupid thing is, I'm hardly tipsy." Weiss said, as she closed the door behind her. "Why haven't I gotten drunk yet? I should be completely smashed. Incomprehensible even. It's like when we dropped Yang face first on the floor, expect, with less whiskey, and more wine and-"

"And that's enough of that." Blake said, plucking the makeshift shaker from the woman's grip. "Weiss, you are drunk. You get very, very, chatty after one too many."

"Oh, no, no, no." Weiss retorted wagging a finger. "There's drunk, and then there's this." She reached for the martini mixture missing entirely, stumbling into Blake's arms. "This…it shouldn't have to be like _this._ He was a hunter and hunters don't just – no. I'm not going to go there. You know what? I promised myself, I wouldn't do this. I wouldn't blame myself. I was naive to think that'd last more than a day. I fuck everything else up, might as well fuck up my own head too, because why not?"

"There was nothing you could have done."

"And isn't that the pisser!" Weiss retorted, pushing away. "I'm a Schnee, I can wipe my own ass in lien if I wanted to."

More than tipsy…much more than tipsy. Blake surmised, noting the vulgarities that were at or even below Yang's level. "What does that have to do with anything?" Blake asked, catching Weiss again before the teetering woman crashed into the wall.

Weiss patted Blake on the chest reassuringly, she pushed herself away again. "Blake, I have more money and power than most people know what to do with. I order anything, people do it." Weiss flicked her long white hair back behind her shoulders. "It gets done. Without even a second guess. And, furthermore, the reason it gets done, is because people don't want to even think about what happens if it doesn't."

Blake watched the scene of the prattling Schnee in horror. She should have come up here sooner. She knew this now. "Weiss…"

"I did everything… _everything_ I could!" Weiss, as usual when she was under the influence of any alcohol turned on a time. She flitted from happiness to depression in the blink of an eye. It was why, generally, Weiss stayed away from copious amounts of hard liquor. "…so why?" She asked, her voice now so quiet even Blake strained to hear. "I threw every specialist money could buy at him. It wasn't enough. Why wasn't it enough?"

"I don't know." Blake swallowed hard. Neptune's last few weeks of life had been the hardest for all of them. Near the end, he couldn't even get out of bed, his body reduced to skin and bone. One moment he was lucid, and the next, not. Those last few weeks had taken a toll on all of them. Weiss and Sun, there from the start of it, recalled what it was like to change the bedding after Neptune, too ill to move, soiled it the first time…

When he didn't even realize he'd done it, even as the urine soaked sheets smelled sour from all of his medication…but there was something else there, too. Traces of blood.

That was the night Weiss had called the peaceful little household, telling them to come to Atlas, and get there fast. When they arrived, Neptune was too far gone. Weiss in an attempt to save any and all propriety Neptune might have, kept the matter closed to the public. Sun, Weiss, Ruby, Yang, Blake…between them, they did everything. Bathed him, fed him, pulled him from the brink of insanity over and over again, until Neptune's final breath.

"Hunters don't die because they're sick!" Weiss retorted loudly. "I was expecting him to go off and do something stupid…god knows he never used to use his brain half the time, gallivanting around with Sun, chasing Grimm around…but I was _prepared_ for that." She could taste blood from the inside of her cheek where she had bitten down too hard. "I wasn't prepared for this…so excuse me while I pickle my insides, because I don't know what else to do."

Blake hugged her. Afraid to do more, afraid to push the fragility of the moment any further.

* * *

Ruby Rose had two modes when it came to the romantic endeavors of her life. Soft, sweet, and submissive. Or a tough as nails, dangerously aggressive, power bottom. It was the latter of those two roles that Yang tried to avoid witnessing. Mostly, it was because Yang didn't particularly care for the hair pulling, biting, provocation that was Ruby on a tirade.

Ruby was a true huntress. There was something exciting in the thrill of danger. Of tempting it. Occasionally, she took a twisted amount of glee in sending their lover into a near animalistic frenzy. It wasn't just rough sex, it was brutal domination brought on by Blake's instincts. When Ruby and Blake were in that kind of mood, Yang slept in the spare room. She just didn't want to know the darker side of her sister's mind. It was a place was rather terrifying.

Thankfully, those moments were predictable. They happened most often happened after a hunt, or when Ruby was particularly upset about something. So, it was with due caution that Yang entered her bedroom that evening. It had been more than a little stressful lately, and Yang wondered when the two of them would let loose.

"Blake? Ruby?" Yang called, from beyond the crack in the door.

"It's safe to come in." Ruby chuckled from the echo of the on suite bathroom, the one luxury the family afforded themselves. "We've been waiting for you."

It was refreshing to see the two of them sharing a hot bath, the tub plenty big enough to fit a few more people comfortably. Yang stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower to meticulously clean her hair. The warm water calming her senses after dealing with her uncle all afternoon. "Sorry I missed dinner. Got word on an Ursa den in the lower left quadrant of the forest. I was looking into the lead."

Ruby made a small noise of acknowledgement. "I assumed that's where you disappeared to. The barkeep passed me down at the corner store, he said you'd made a stop in."

"Uncle Qrow is still down there." Yang said tiredly. "I think dad will have to go pick him up off of the floor. Anyway, I looked into the hunt, but the lien is kind of low."

"It'll be a one night trip at most." Ruby said thoughtfully, leaning back into Blake's embrace, enjoying the attention her lover was lavishing along her neck. Soft presses of lips followed by gentle nips of teeth and tongue. "I could take it."

The shower turned off, and Yang stepped out. Forgoing her towel as she made it to the deep, warm bath. Ruby scooted aside to make room, and Yang took over Ruby's old space. Yang and Blake shared a slow kiss, the tender moment lazy and affectionate. It was only after they pulled away, and Yang settled in, that Ruby felt right stretching her legs over her sister's own, crossing them at the ankles.

They sat, basking in the quiet, until Blake broke the silence knowingly. "Ruby, you had something you wanted to talk about?"

"Yeah, I do."

Yang glanced to the side. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Ruby asked, a small little smile on her lips. Grabbing one of the washcloths and putting it behind her neck, she reclined back in the water. "We just haven't talked about our reasonable limits when it comes to Weiss. I've decided on mine, so I thought I'd let you know what they are."

"Okay." Yang said simply, her voice easy going as she leaned into Blake. "But, just so you know, I haven't figured mine out yet."

"That's fine." Ruby said. "I don't think there's anything you could do that would really bother. This is more about…well, what I'm choosing to do, considering…" Ruby sunk lower in the water. "I've given it a lot of thought, you know. I've always cared about Weiss, and it wasn't easy to decide where the boundary line was going to be. Then I realized, it doesn't need to be my choice." Ruby laughed at her own silliness before she sighed. "Or, I mean it can't be."

"You don't really think that, do you?" Blake asked gently.

"Actually, kind of, yeah." Ruby said thoughtfully. "The two of us were always slower on the uptake in everything. Why should this be any different? So, I decided, I'm not going get into a deeper relationship with her, unless she asks me to. I want her to tell me that she wants me." Ruby blushed then "But, if she does, I'm not holding back."

"Hmm." Yang was honestly surprised about that. "Well whatever floats your boat. Just warn me if you're going to do anything that'll burn my eyes if I walk in on it."

"No BDSM to mace you with, promise." Ruby said with a grin. "Though if I know Weiss like I think I do, she's not going to come to me first anyway."

"What make you say that?" Blake asked.

"Because I'm your mate, Blake. I know these things." Ruby told her. "You and Weiss have a history together. Something that I wasn't ready to be part of back then. When I finally was ready to take things farther, Weiss just wasn't there anymore. You were the one I chose to spend my life with. Besides that, whenever Weiss gets squeamish about something, she always asks Yang. I'll bet you any money, Weiss goes to her first."

"We'd have to have money for that." Blake said with a shake of her head.

"Don't worry, I'll take the hunt like we talked about." Ruby assured. "Even if it isn't much, it should cover the next round of bills."


	4. Chapter 4

It was late at night…or, was it early morning?

For Blake, the halfhearted musing permeated the fog of her mind. She lay sandwiched between Yang and Ruby. It was more for their convenience than her own. If there was ever one shared habit between the siblings, it was that they both liked to cuddle. And they both preferred to sleep naked. Furthermore, Yang and Ruby had a tendency to sandwich her in their sleep.

Not that Blake truly minded, but she had taken to laying either on her belly, or on her back. This gave her ample room to maneuver the two human blankets she called mates.

Blake couldn't tell what time it was, but the sun had yet to rise. Despite this, Ruby was quite clearly awake. The telltale signs of fidgeting proved that she was restless. Blake purred at the aimless circles and curly-Q's mapped out starting at her shoulders and trailing distinctly downwards. She flicked an eye open, and rolled onto her side. Endless silver gazed back at her. The likes of which only further bothered Blake as she noticed the wetness lingering there.

"Sorry…" Ruby said. "Didn't mean too wake you."

And while that was probably true, she was awake now, and fully aware of her lover's distress. Blake pulled Ruby close and went back to purring, leaving soft, soothing kisses on any place she could reach. Ruby tilted her head, giving Blake more room, and the Faunus nuzzled at that all too willing nape before sinking her teeth in with gentle reassurance. Her purr deepened, and she maneuvered both of them to Ruby's side of the bed.

"What was it?" Blake breathed against the parted lips of Ruby's own.

"Nightmare."

"They're not real."

"This one it could have been."

Blake kissed her then, if only to prove the frivolity of the statement. There a lot of thing that fell into that category, and Blake didn't want to muse on all of them. Thankfully, it didn't seem as Ruby wanted to either, because she surrendered to the kiss entirely, arms wrapping around Blake more fully as her legs parted to do the same, her hips twisting in a slow circular pattern to offer her sleepy lover some much needed friction.

A low approving growl mixed with the already low and needy purr. It rumbled softly in the dark room. This was what woke Yang, the covers disturbed around her. Her bountiful breasts were no longer covered by the blankets, the cool night air blanketing her in gooseflesh. The blonde rolled over to enjoy the show going on only partially between the sheets.

Her eyes were not as good as Blake's in the dark, but the shadowed image in front of her was more than enough to excite her.

A sleepy Blake was an impossibly easy Blake to arouse. Her long black hair a messy waterfall that shrouded the expressions on the couples' faces. Yang could tell when Blake's ears flicked in just the right way, and that purring got lower still, that Blake needed no further encouragement. The shaky, not-so-quiet moan was the telltale sign that she'd sheathed herself fully in Ruby's warmth.

Yang's own hand drifted southwards as she spread her legs, watching as Ruby met Blake's insistent thrusts with quiet, breathy moans of her own, stifled by Blake's shoulder. Seeing that Yang was watching only reddened Ruby's cheeks all the more, as an embarrassed squeak left her lips. Blake, impassioned by the noise and the blissfully tight heat around her throbbing arousal welcomed the intensity.

Yang watched the impressive roll of Blake's hips, and the flexing of her shapely ass. Each thrust a fluid motion, precise and solid.

Sloppy kisses and nips along tender flesh was doing more to set fire to their already burning blood than usual. Neither one of them were masters at their own self-control at the late hour. It was with a dark, heady growl that Blake spilled her seed. Ruby's own climax tumbling out of her mouth in a string of curses she would never otherwise say. The scent of sex filled the air, and Yang mewled in frustration as the scene ended far too soon for her liking, her fingers working into overtime, imploring her own orgasm to come, but it just wouldn't.

"Damn it..." Yang cursed. "This is why I hate being wound up in the middle of the night."

Blake collapsed onto her side, grabbing Ruby's ass and dragging her along for the ride. She didn't have to break the connection that so bonded them. Even as her shaft began to soften, she was loathe to part from hot, wet folds.

"Don't you dare fall back to sleep, kitten…not after waking me up." Yang warned. "Not until after I've gotten my turn."

Exhausted, Blake sighed only slightly. Both with contentment, and with some level of resignation to the fact that with Yang, she wouldn't get away with just a quickie.

* * *

When the Sun finally did manage to rise on the sleepy little house, it was to Blake's greatest disappointment. She wanted nothing more than to toss the alarm clock out of the window. Since she couldn't do that, she settled for smacking it off the bedside table with a disgruntled snarl. It silenced the ringing, but Yang was sure that the little metal bells would need to be put back on again.

"Babe, don't kill the clock."

Another half growl was Blake's response as she buried her face further in Yang's breasts. Her once flailing arm tucking itself back under the warm blankets.

"I think you might have worn Blakey out last night." Ruby said from her position on Blake's other side.

"Well sorry I can't zero to sixty like you two can." Yang shot back, even as her fingers rolled the fur covered ears atop Blake's head insistently. It had the opposite effect that Yang was hoping for, as her Faunus lover melted into the embrace with a deep, sleepy purr. "Besides, she wasn't complaining last night."

Ruby offered a sideways grin to that remark. "No one was complaining last night." Ruby said, dragging herself out of bed. "You deal with our grouch, and I'll go start the coffee."

The day began in earnest once Blake had some coffee in her, and the children had been given breakfast. Mealtimes were a long prized family time in the household. As Yang and Ruby had come to learn, hungry Faunus were angry Faunus…and Weiss wasn't the least bit pleasant on an empty belly either. It was as Yang busied herself with the dishes that Blake took to dealing with the bills that had piled up.

They were dirt poor half the time. The other half, they were clutching onto every lien they owned to hoard it. Being a hunter wasn't a glamorous job, and Patch was a rather poor island compared to the rest of Vale. Weiss had always known that they lived rather meagerly, but it was a life that they seemed to love. Living off of the land was easier to do than most would think, given their skill set. Fish, fruits, and greenery made up a large part of their summer diets.

It was the winter months that proved a strain on the coin purse. At least, usually.

Blake held the phone to her ear. Paying the electricity, and cursing to herself as she balanced the figures in the check book. Ula had recently gone to the doctor before the trip to Atlas, which had been an unforeseen expense. Now, they were in the red. She hung up the phone. "The important bills are paid off, but say goodbye to the cable for a week." She said to Yang. "We can't afford to pay that until next week."

"Which is why you should just let me pay for it." Weiss sighed, having finally dragged herself out of her room.

"You're not paying a cent." Blake argued. "Household expenses are our burden."

"Blake, it's a drop in the bucket to me."

"And that's the point." Blake said, looking over to Ula who was busy coloring in the main room. "Weiss, I don't know if you've noticed this, but there are two children in this house. They need to learn what it means to prioritize necessities over luxuries. It's fine if you spoil them every now and then, but here, at home, they need to understand lien can't be thrown around like that. Hunters don't live luxurious lives."

"Besides that, they'll just sit there and drool over that stupid thing if it's left running." Yang ranted, arms crossed. "I keep saying I should take a hammer to it. They're four and six, they should be out making friends, being unholy terrors, and making havoc."

Blake's ear flicked. "I wouldn't go quite that far…"

"I would." Yang said most assuredly. "Our kids aren't book worms, they're couch potatoes. At that age I was playing ball in the street and breaking windows on accident. They've got a whole big forest to play in, and a beach just down the road. We should be yelling at them for tracking mud through the house, not sitting there lopsided killing off brain cells."

"Well for a week at least, you'll get your wish." Blake said with a tiny smile as she turned to Ruby. "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"It'll be fine." Ruby said, outfitted and ready to go. "Shouldn't take me longer than a quick trip. Besides, you know they get upset when two of us go on the hunt. You two just keep the house from falling apart while I'm gone."


	5. Chapter 5

Yang fully realized and appreciated the good humor of the little island town. Crass as it might have seemed, there was a run-on joke about her. The resident butch of the Xiao Long family, or so the prattling went. Yang made a mockery of the farmers at the pub. Good people, rough around the edges, but always up for a little good-natured mudslinging during a round of shots.

Besides, when she looked herself up and down in the mirror, she couldn't help but agree. She tended to egg those kinds of drunken statements on.

She was, as many had come to call her, ripped. Her body was toned, muscled to perfection. She could lift Blake without batting an eye, and after a few too many, she had once showcased this skill. Much to her mate's greatest dismay, Yang had proved her raw power time and again. Even so, that wasn't the reason for the jokes. It wasn't just her body, it was her hobbies and her work, too.

She loved to watch the fights, kept up on the score rosters in arena based matches. Several tables had been broken due to bar brawls in her younger years. As such, Yang had a firm understand as to what sort of abuse her merchandise tended to endure.

After flexing in the mirror, she dressed in a tank top and pair of cargo jeans, keen on starting her day. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Taiyang passing on his hand-to-hand combat onward to the next generation. Yang's son, Blain, struggled to keep up with his grandfather's mighty fist. Ula was curled up on her great uncle, Qrow. The dark haired man was nursing a hangover, laying cockeyed across the front stoop with a bottle of whiskey in his grip.

It was nice, she considered, having the comforts of home close at hand.

She headed down stairs, out the back door, and into her work shed. Inside she had plenty of sanding to do. The orders were meticulously carved, the wooden table was something Yang had been working on for almost a month now. The buyer wanted it to look like a one of a kind collector's piece. She began to sink into her work, losing track of time, until the metal door opened, before slamming shut.

"You're doing it again." Blake chastised. "You skipped lunch, and soon enough, you'd end up missing dinner."

"Just thinking, that's all." Yang said distractedly.

"About what?"

"Nothing important, just thinking in general." Yang said as she put down her sandpaper and sauntered over to one of her workbenches. Tipping a glass jar holding a few bolts over, she cleaned out the inside. Then she unscrewed the flask at her hip, pouring a small helping of whiskey inside, handing it to Blake. "Weiss acts fine, well, about as fine as I'd expect anyway…but I wonder if she really is. She's been cooped up in her room all damn day."

"Not that you've been any better…"

"Just didn't want that kind of perspective…" Yang said darkly, swigging from the metal canister in her hand before screwing it shut and sighing.

Blake sipped hers more slowly, letting the flavors linger on her tongue. "What's really bothering you."

"I just told you." Yang shrugged, her voice lowering to a quieter level. "Been a long time since I've seen death…and normally, we just see it. We don't watch it happen. Can't say I'm not rattled…I just keep rolling it over in my head, the way he just went…and fuck, he was a good buddy of ours…I can't imagine how Weiss feels."

"She feels like shit…we all do." Blake said. "But we keep on going because that's all we can do…things like this get easier in time…"

"Yeah, and isn't that fucking great?" Yang asked. "We're horrible people…we dragged a widow into our house while she's in a fragile state of mind. All we were thinking of was how we could just be a real family again…but shit…look at the price…"

Setting down her empty glass, Blake leaned forward, capturing Yang's lips with her own in a tender kiss. It lacked heat and ferocity, lingering and ghosting unhurriedly as Blake pulled away. "Neptune wanted this too…you heard him…we all did." Blake murmured. "The best thing we can do for Weiss now, is to be here for her. We can stand in the place he stood, be the people she needs us to be...whatever that is. That's _all_ we can do."

Take care of her, he said. Make sure she's happy. Don't let her throw herself back into her work. Don't let the SDC drag her back. They'd all heard him, Weiss included. He didn't want Weiss alone in Atlas, and that was that…and, truth be told…Weiss didn't want to be alone either. Moving her to patch had been ideal. No one could really argue that.

Unlike her sister, Yang was a lover, not a fighter. She was used to being the backbone of the family outwardly, she had to be, and Yang knew that role…had known it her entire life. She didn't come without scars, ones that were now reopen by Neptune's loss. Proof of how fleeting life was. It had just been displayed in front of her once again, and Yang had once again been powerless.

"I just want to hold her. I want her back in my arms again." Yang admitted, coiling herself around Blake, her taller form scrunching into the tiniest possible ball, as she buried her face into the crook of Blake's neck. "What the hell's wrong with me?"

"Nothing, Yang." Blake assured. "Nothing's wrong with you. I feel the same way." Any further murmuring debate on that was silenced again, as Blake leaned down, to kiss the nape of Yang's neck, brushing blonde strands away and breathing in the deep, taking in the scent of her lover. Her mate, a purr resonating deeply as she as molten gold closed behind softly lidded eyes. On the inside, Yang was never as robust as she seemed, Blake had to be careful with her.

That fracture of a smile was apt to crumble otherwise.

It was Yang's fingertips that trailed low, playing with the hem of Blake's pants only to make a discovery she hadn't entirely expecting. "Babe, are you tucking again?" She asked.

Blake didn't do that all too often, only when she had to, and that was rare around the house. "I was going to go into the other side town." Blake told her quietly. "We're out of some things, Weiss insisted she pay for some groceries. I gave up fighting her about it." She felt Yang dig around in her left ass pocket, pulling out a folded list and opening it up.

"I'll go, you…you get yourself out of that." Yang half ordered.

"It's not all that uncomfortable." Blake retorted, knowing it would fall on deaf ears.

"I don't care, it's not good for you." Yang breathed hotly. "I'll make it uncomfortable right here and right now, if you don't get your ass back upstairs and untuck it. I'll be home soon…is this all we need?"

"Yeah." Blake said easily, watching as Yang made for the door. "Hey, Yang?"

"Hmm?"

"My rules about Weiss...take it as far as you think you have to. If you're going to torture yourself anyway, Yang, just make a move. Don't do this halfway." Blake said to her, as she began to spruce up Yang's workshop. "Get selfish." She looked to the empty bottle of top shelf brandy. "You don't have to wait."

"Yeah, well, neither do you." Yang said with a sigh.

"I'm not all that worried about Weiss. Things will fall into place, but until then, I've got my hands full with you and Ruby." Blake told her. "Give me a reason not to be worried about you, I'll make my move. It's that simple."

"Well hot damn, that one hell of an insinuation."

"It better be more than that." Blake shot back. "Anyway, if you want me out of this gaff, then get your tight little ass to the store."


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby returned home with heavy footfalls, her boots tracking in mud, and blood thickly covering her gear.

"Ruby?" Blake asked, her book forgotten as she ran over to examine her mate properly.

"It's not mine." Ruby murmured coolly, pushing Blake away with an open palm. Pushing her wet hair out of her face, she sighed heavily. "There were a few corpses. Nothing I could do but bury them…" She pulled a crinkled envelope from her satchel, handing it to Blake. "That's the payment, as was promised in full…and then this…" Another envelope, this one much thicker. "The dead man must have been a traveling merchant."

"Oh...I see." Blake took the second envelope slowly. There was a lot of money inside, but it wouldn't do him any good now. "There wasn't any identification?"

Ruby paused, cloak in hand. "No. He wasn't an islander either." She murmured, hanging it up, and pulling off her boots. "I'm going to go change."

"Ruby, how many were there?"

"Bodies, or Grimm?" Ruby returned with a small shake of her head. "If you're going to follow me, just be ready to activate your aura. That's all I'm going to say."

Blake only watched her go. There wasn't much she could do when that defeated gaze met her own. Steel eyes ever so tired, and in more ways than one. Instead, she made a beeline for the kitchen, where Yang sat at the table. "Get Blane and Ula and go to Tai's for the night."

"How bad is it this time?" Yang asked quietly, keeping her voice intentionally low. She had no idea how far it might reach.

"Do you really have to ask? This has been building up for too long…" Blake said keeping her voice equally low. "She's going to snap if this keeps up."

"This is why I hate when she goes on missions alone." Yang sighed at length. "One of us should have gone with her."

"I think this is why she chooses to." Blake replied, having long since come to that conclusion. "We might be huntresses, but our reasons for becoming one had nothing to do with the profession directly. For Ruby, this is all she's ever wanted. She's living the life of her dreams…"

"Yeah, well, she couldn't have known the kind of nightmare she signed up for." Yang bit out.

"Yes she did…" Blake replied, leaning her back against the wall. "She knows, Yang. When I really think about it, I don't know what terrifies me more. The fact that she _is_ a huntress, or the fact she still _wants_ to be one after nights like this."

Blake's implications were always darker than Yang wanted to hear. Then again, Ruby made it easy to think the worst. Still, it was not the first time that her sister had come home covered in blood, frustrated in her own preconceived failures. Ruby had always held high standards of what it meant to be a huntress.

To be a hero meant saving the people. Protecting those who couldn't defend themselves. It meant exterminating Grimm, and setting aside moral propriety every once and a while to do what was unavoidable…but, a huntress wasn't a hero.

To be a huntress, first and foremost, meant being ready to hunt. To do battle. And to experience the ugly side of Remnant, so that others didn't have to. That wasn't being a hero. That was being a justifiable murder of Grimm and other deadly foes. It meant accepting that carnage was the only way to deal with some aspects of the world they lived in.

That in some cases, killing was the _only_ effective method.

As a family, they did what they knew best. They slapped a big Band-Aid over the emotional wound the only way they could. Yang found excuses, woke the children, and pulled them away from the aftermath. Blake entered the bedroom, where Ruby stood soaking wet form her shower, peering out of the window that overlooked the forest. Blake heard the scraping of the pocket knife against the wood grain before she saw Ruby move.

In a flash, they were in a grapple, Blake's palm clutching the knife steadily. It bit into her hand, but that was easily ignored.

Molten gold found that of blazing steel. Ruby let out a breath, and finally, so did Blake. The Faunus gently fumbled the knife out of Ruby's grasp. Biting back a curse as her aura mended the cut that had resulted from outright grabbing the weapon. "You can't save everyone…"

"I know."

"You don't have to save everyone."

"I know."

"That's not your responsibility."

"If I had done my job faster…if I hadn't waited until morning to leave…"

"You think for a second I would have let you go out tired and unprepared?" Blake shook her head. "Ruby, that's not on you. You did your job, that's all you have to do. Anything else…that's just out of your control."

"Just shut up and fuck me." Ruby groused out, ignoring the salty sting in her eyes. "I don't want to have to think anymore."

"Ruby…"

Ruby grabbed Blake's Faunus ear, twisting and yanking. "I'm _not_ asking." She bit out as she heard Blake snarl. "Make this go away."

* * *

Weiss was rightfully confused when Yang had escorted her out of the house. The only problem was, Yang was not entirely sure how much she could say. Eventually, she just spilled her guts out. It was easier to just get everything out into the open.

"The first time it happened was after a mission involving bandits. She was depressed for weeks. Blake and I didn't know why. Then, one day, we found the footlocker where we keep our weapons and ammunition sitting with the hatch open. We only have three keys, and they're on us at all times..." Yang pulled hers out from between her breasts for emphasis. The key dangled on a small silver chain. "We found her in the bathroom, trying to hone her aura around a busted blade."

"Why would she do that?" Weiss asked.

"Guess she was trying to teach herself to grab onto it without cutting herself…but that blade absorbs aura. It sucks it in, nullifies it." Yang shrugged then as she scratched the back of her head. "She couldn't have mastered that training if she tried…and she finally told us that the bandits got a few good hits in on her. Her own weaknesses scared her."

"I wish you would have told me that her line of work was this dangerous…" Weiss said as she tried to absorb the truth. Having it placed before her in neat little rows did nothing to soothe her. It only made her more worried. "I never realized."

"You were a Beacon graduate too." Yang told her. "You should know."

"There's a fine line between a huntress and whatever Ruby is." Weiss shot back. "Huntresses don't take bandit missions unless they're truly a threat to the people. They never take them alone. We formed teams for a reason, Yang."

"You know that, and I know that…but Ruby's a lot like Summer Rose in that way…or so dad says. The jobs are just jobs, but if Ruby doesn't take them, who will? Who'll be the one to step in and get the job done?"

Weiss let slip a long suffering sigh. "It doesn't have to be Ruby."

"But it does have to be someone." Yang pointed out.

"I don't think I like the sound of that."

"Trust me, I don't either."

Weiss nodded silently. Her words would have fallen on deaf ears, so instead, she posed a different question. "What do you suppose they do, when Ruby's like that?"

"I told you, I sleep in the spare room. I don't want any part of the shit going on right now. I promise you, it's not exactly pretty." In fact, Yang knew that no one besides a fellow hunter could possibly contend with her sister's mood swings, volatile and dangerous as they were. As it stood, she trusted Blake to get a firm handle on the situation, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about them. "Ever see a Faunus get aggressive with a lover?"

Weiss shook her head. "No."

"Not something you think about really. Or rather, something you don't normally need to think about." Yang murmured. "But, Blake's not human…she's got this side to her that doesn't come out too often, but when it does…fuck, it's something else. One time, after the two of them went at it, I walked in to check on them. Ruby was covered in bites, and Blake? Her back was scratched to hell…no matter what anyone says, Ruby's still my little sister. It's hard, knowing that the two of them can go to dark places like that."

This, of course, sparked the same sort of ponderings from the shorter woman. "Have you ever…?"

This time it was Yang who stayed silent. Her wordless denial was all that Weiss needed. "What about you?"

Weiss licked her lips and sighed. Divulging any of her pervious history, meant speaking at length of Neptune's as well…and that was not something Weiss wanted to do in good faith. Trusting Yang had nothing to do with it. Speaking ill of the dead, however, was something Weiss couldn't bring herself to do. "Well, I'm not completely unaware of what can go on behind closed doors, Yang. Bitterness can lead down particularly dark avenues…and Neptune and I…we were bitter people."

"So I've noticed." Yang admonished softly. "I won't think less of either of you…how could I when…" Yang gestured across the way, to where her own home had likely become a sinner's paradise. Blood play was the least of her worries. "Look, none of us have room to judge. You don't have to say anything, but I know someplace, deep down, you want to."

"I'm just tired, Yang." Weiss used the old excuse for what it was. Something dusty and worn out. Perfectly valid, but also empty. "I'm tired of being tired, and I'm tired of knowing that there is nothing I can do…no one deserves my baggage, but even more than that….you don't deserve to deal with me. The longer I live out here, the more I see a happy family with a routine…and here I am, impeding on it."

"Weiss, you're making it sound like you're some sort of burden…"

"I am."

"No, you're not."

"I don't know how to be…what you want me to be…" Weiss said then. "I am a burden, because I know you still care. I'm not like you, or Ruby…hell, I'm not even like Blake. I couldn't even keep one person happy. What hope do I have to please whole family? What you have is beyond precious, and I…I don't fit that mold."

"Weiss?"

"I can't make you happy." Weiss repeated. "Even if I tried. I'd just fail."

Yang forced out a heated breath as she crossed what little distance there was between them. "Where is this coming from?" Yang breathed, her worries caught up in her throat.

"Experience."

"I'm not unhappy."

"You're going to be, if I stay." Weiss murmured shakily.

"If you leave and go back to Atlas, then I'll be unhappy." Yang said then. "You're freaking me out, yeah…but I'm not unhappy, Weiss. I'm worried about you, but that doesn't mean I don't want you here."

Long moments passed before Weiss spoke again. "He and I…sex was always a complicated thing. Something we were expected to do for the sake of progeny. We had…several problems…when it came to that particular aspect of our lives. At first, it was always uncomfortable, and a few times…Neptune….he just…couldn't." Weiss struggled with the words. "I confronted him about it, his impotency..."

"You know, there are times Blake can't keep hard either." Yang shrugged. "It happens, it's not a huge deal."

"The reasons aren't the same." Weiss chastised with a sideways glance. Her voice grew softer then. More distant, and thoughtful. "It's not because you're an absolute failure when it comes to romantic overtures. It's not because you're so repulsed by the idea of furthering the Schnee family name that you take birth control just to avoid it...and it's not because you're a heartless bitch who offers nothing more than a dry, heartless fuck in standard missionary."

"Is that really what you think about yourself?" Yang asked softly. "You're wrong. I don't remember it that way."

"I hurt him in so many ways." Weiss finally sobbed. "I'm going to hurt you, and I can't promise that I won't..."

Yang didn't offer a verbal response, choosing instead to pull Weiss into passionate kiss that left no room for argument, the two of them melting against the wall before sliding down to the wooden floor.


	7. Chapter 7

The kiss was deep. Soft but intense. Yang overwhelmed her senses, made her feel as if she was drowning, but for the first time in a long time, Weiss felt safe.

It made breaking the kiss all that much more painful. Words were lodged in her throat, emotions were crammed there like a gag, and the only release from any of it were the tears trailing down her cheeks, and warm thumbs brushing them away. Yang was always the sort of person that was just too much to take. Too candid, too honest, too willing to cut to the drastic heart of the matter with her knowing gaze and clumsy words.

Yang was brazen enough to say what others wouldn't, and lacked the social decorum to care that she'd even done it.

Many equated her to a bull in a china shop, and in so many cases they would be right. In this moment, her caress was gentle, her voice as well. Such a wonderful contradiction was rare. Yang's willingness to even look at her made Weiss inexplicably confused. Happy and sad all at the same time. Relieved, and yet so terribly worried.

"This…" Yang murmured, foreheads touching, she watched as Weiss closed her eyes. "This is what I remember, Weiss." But it was so much more than that. It wasn't just the tears, or the kisses, it was the impact of it all. The fact that Weiss could do what Blake could not. Yang had always been mesmerized by the way that Weiss gave in, and succumbed to her own desires with a recklessness that was so utterly fragile.

Weiss had always, _always_ , been the emotional lover among them.

The passionate, if not prickly girl who had a tendency to push everything and everyone away from her. Push away, until she clung so fiercely that none of it even made a lick of sense anymore.

When Weiss chose to let someone into her heart, it was irrevocable, steadfast, and always breathtakingly beautiful…but attaining that love was difficult in and of itself. Being given the trust required even harder. Weiss had never been an easy person to please. Her impossibly high standards were always the major complication in her relationships, because Weiss held herself above her very standard as well.

It made breaking through that personal wall of hers increasingly difficult.

Outside of team RWBY, Yang doubted anyone would truly stand a chance. That wasn't clout backing up that assumption either. It was something else entirely.

"Yang, don't."

"I want you."

"You can't mean that."

"Mm, yeah I do."

"I said no, Yang."

"But you're not pushing me away." Yang murmured knowingly.

"I don't want to push you away." Weiss huffed.

And, that was the key. In spite of everything, Weiss built her armor up more and more. Team RWBY had already breached inside the soul that refused to melt. Had already earned their place when Weiss still had an ounce of trust and love to gift the world around her. They had already warmed that soul once, and once was all it ever took. While she pushed everyone else away, guarded herself tooth and nail, she clung closer to what little she had left.

Clinging just as tightly to Yang in denial, as she did in approval. They sat like that for hours before Weiss finally fell asleep in Yang's arms.

* * *

When she woke up the next day, Weiss had no way to come to terms with herself or what had almost happened. She knew Yang would never take advantage of her, but they had been close to toeing the line of going too far. Sex had almost happened. At first, she was just kissing Yang, feeling the heat of their bodies together, but then, something snapped…some very lonely part of her was waiting to be used as Yang's personal gratification.

Someone should be fulfilled in this mess, after all.

It was an unsavory thought made worse when she finally saw the true depth of Why Yang kept the kids away from the household. Ruby looked like hell, and Blake seemed no better. There were claw marks down Ruby's neck and back. Red and angry, but not scabbed over. They were, Weiss decided, intended. As though Blake had been careful in their placement not to truly hurt Ruby. Blake's own mild injuries were colorful. Purple bites and red scratches painting a rainbow that would be gone by midafternoon.

It was no less disturbing, and Weiss understood why Yang stayed away.

"She told you…" Ruby concluded as she sat with the bathroom door open, wrapped in a bath towel as though she had just gotten out. Blake was rubbing more antibiotic ointment onto Ruby's scratches, even though she had already done so the night before.

"What did you two do last night?" Weiss shot back. "This is...this is not okay."

"I'm a huntress." Ruby said numbly. "I can take it."

Weiss sighed, looking over to Blake. "Why are you even bothering with ointment, what's wrong with your aura, or Ruby's...what did you two _do_ to each other?"

Blake pointedly snapped the cap to the bottle shut. She had no way of explaining the depth of Ruby's need for such things…those emotions were wholly personal, and completely between them. It was best to draw a line between Weiss and the threshold into Ruby's sinfully dark and gritty perversions. At least, for now. "Weiss, it's alright. There's nothing wrong with Ruby's aura, or my own for that matter. What we're doing is called aftercare, and it's a very important dynamic to our relationship."

"Blake…your back, should I…" Ruby started to ask before trailing off.

The Faunus shook her head, placing a kiss atop Ruby's forehead. "In good time, Ruby, let me finish taking care of you first." The words were twofold as she flicked her gaze over to Weiss. She set aside the first aid kit, and put out the row scented candles resting on a ledge just above the bath, scooping Ruby up into her arms. Her words were both gentle and firm, allowing for no argument. "You wait outside, Weiss, I'll be with you in a sec."

The mated pair entered into the bedroom, where Blake settled Ruby on the bed. Switching out the bath towels for a warm, fluffy bathrobe, they stayed close for a few moments. Kissing Ruby once again before whispering something into her ear that Weiss couldn't hear. Ruby nodded, but didn't say anything. Then Blake asked about breakfast, Ruby giving a distracted reply as her eyes trailed back to Weiss.

Blake noticed this, but didn't comment as she tucked Ruby back into bed before exiting the bedroom and softly closing the door behind her. With Ruby tucked away relaxing, Blake could deal with the weight that had settled around them.

"Nights like last night happen, Weiss, and when they do, we deal with it the best we can. After she's faced danger or death out in the field, Ruby gets aggressive with me…and I let her. When she does, she releases a more primal part of my Faunus instincts that I normally keep very carefully schooled and controlled. Sometimes she needs me to loosen the reigns a bit…get more, for a lack of a better term, feral, I suppose."

"Yang said basically the same thing…" Weiss said with a frown. "But there's no way all of those scratches and bites were from you…"

"Most of them were, yes." Blake gestured for Weiss to follow downstairs. If Ruby wanted yogurt, pancakes, and hot chocolate, then Ruby would be getting yogurt, pancakes, and hot chocolate. "I won't go into this too deeply, but, if you have questions I'll answer them as best as I can."

There was only question that came to mind. The same one that Blake always seemed to hear first. "Why?"

The dark haired woman sighed. "It helps her to emotionally purge a lot of her negative feelings and guilt of a failed mission. We're huntresses, always living on the cusp of danger. It takes more for Ruby to reach an emotional level of gratification…I'm fine with taking her to that level, but, taking care of her after that is important. We have an extensive routine."

Rubbing her eyes, and pushing away her initial reaction to just shut down, she gave Blake a harsh look. "Baths, breakfast in bed? What's that supposed to be, some sort of consolation prize?"

"We do more than that." Blake said. "Movies, cuddling, sometimes we will talk through the mission. Other times she doesn't want to, and we just spend the day together. Once the initial bloodlust and anger dies down into something more manageable, Ruby's the same shy person she's always been...in a few days, it'll be as if last night never even happened."

"I don't even understand how Ruby could flip on a dime like that." Weiss murmured.

Blake pulled out the pancake mix, while Weiss grabbed the milk and butter. "We go to extremes. Most civilians don't end up walking in on a mauled group of dead bodies and a horde of Grimm to take down. That's the life Ruby knows, the demons she tries to come to terms with are tangible threats to her. The days after are fragile, I don't pretend to know the depth of her thoughts. I only know that she has them."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Weiss asked.

Blake hesitated, glancing over to Weiss and then over to the breakfast tray. "It's imperative that I do most of the heavy lifting in terms of seeing to Ruby's needs. I need her to know she can be entirely reliant on me, and that she can trust me implicitly. It's the only way relationships like ours can work. If you really want to involve yourself in our routine, go upstairs and just lay with her. She'll probably cuddle into your side in an instant...just...don't ask too many questions. Let her process things in her own time. Being supportive is the most important part."


End file.
